Beaufort Memorial Hospital offers scholarships

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SPECIAL TO BLUFFTON TODAY

Special to Bluffton Today Brittany Mahomes of Beaufort is working toward earning an associates degree in radiologic technology. She was recently awarded a scholarship through Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

BEAUFORT — Brittany Mahomes thought she was good to go when she secured a Pell Grant to cover her tuition at the Technical College of the Lowcountry. She never realized all the additional fees and expenses she would need to pay to earn her associate degree in Radiologic Technology.

“As part of your studies, you can be assigned to work at any of 10 hospitals in the region,” said the 21-year Beaufort resident. “I spent five weeks working in Walterboro and then I was assigned to work in Savannah. That’s a lot of commuting.”

The mother of a 2-year-old, Mahomes has been able to finance her travel costs with $1,500 in scholarship money she received from Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

“We established the scholarship program to help fill the need in Beaufort County for health care professionals in fields where there are shortages,” said Beaufort Memorial Human Resources Manager Chris Watson. “The students who receive the scholarships are not required to work in the community after they graduate, but we hope they will.”

The Associates Degree Scholarship is offered to students studying to become a nurse, radiologic technician, physical therapy assistant or medical laboratory technician. The winner of this scholarship is awarded $2,000 the first year and $1,000 the second.

Having already completed her first year of studies, Mahomes split half of last year’s $3,000 award with second-year TCL student Ryan Redwine.

“I used the scholarship money to pay my tuition,” said Redwine, who is studying to become a physical therapy assistant. “I’m paying for my own schooling, so it was a big help.”

The Beaufort resident works four or five nights a week at a local restaurant to pay for his education. That’s in addition to the 40 hours he puts in at Progressive Physical Therapy for his required clinical hours.

BMH also offers a Baccalaureate Scholarship for students pursuing degrees in nursing, medical technology, physical therapy and occupational therapy. The winner receives $5,000 the first year, $4,000 the second, $3,500 the third and $2,500 the fourth year of their studies.

Bluffton resident Taneika Miller, a nursing student at University of South Carolina-Beaufort was awarded last year’s Baccalaureate Scholarship.

“It’s helped me a lot,” said Miller, who works two to three days a week as an emergency room technician at Savannah Memorial Hospital to help cover her tuition costs. “Before I got the scholarship, I worked every day. That’s not easy when you’re going to school full time.”

To qualify for either of the two scholarships, applicants must be residents of Beaufort County, have been accepted into an accredited program and have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in high school or college. They also are required to write a 500-word essay on why they have chosen their career in health care. A committee made up of foundation staff members and hospital senior management interviews the top candidates and makes the final selection.

Students interested in applying for the BMH scholarships should e-mail Chris Watson at cwatson@bmhsc.org. The deadline to submit an application is May 1.